Former President Clinton and North Korea…

Barack Obama didn’t do it. GW Bush didnt do it. Hilary Rodham Clinton didnt do it, but her husband did. I’m not talking about cigars, a blue dress or a woman named Monica. I am talking about two women. The release of two women. The pardon of two women and those two women are Laura Ling and Euna Lee. For those Bill Clinton haters, this will be a tough pill to swallow. Without notifying the media, without cameras rolling and completely of his own doing; Former President Bill Clinton met with Kim Jong Il in North Korea this week and after exhaustive talks, a “special pardon” was granted and as simple as one snapping one’s fingers, Laura Ling and Euna Lee will be released and will return home to their families, their country and their freedoms. Now there are those that will always think of Bill Clinton as the impeached President. There are those that remember the 8 years of his Presidency with fondness due to a thriving economy and for the most part, a time of peace for America. A time when the world loved us. And a time, whether you loved or hated him, you couldnt move when he spoke because you were captivated by his enthusiasm and charisma as a speaker. I met former President Clinton in 1992 during a Health Care Summit at the White House. As a nationally syndicated radio talk host who had just taken over for Tom Snyder at Daynet on the ABC Satellite Radio network, I had been invited with others in my line of work. I remember a very large ( in more than name!) talk host who said “When you meet him, you just can’t hate the guy” and although I harbored no hatred toward this President, quite the opposite, the big talk host guy was right. President Clinton has an energy about him that no other President has had during my lifetime. Honestly, I have never met a person whose hand I have shaken and actually felt the energy coming through. His smile is infectous. His words are powerful. And he, no matter how polarizing a figure he might be in our politically divided nation, he is still respected and viewed as extremely powerful throughout the world. Many times during the past 8 years under the Bush Administration, I would hear my conservative counterparts blame Bill Clinton. The bad economy? Clinton’s fault. 9/11? Clinton’s fault. Terrorism? Clinton’s fault. No national healthcare plan? I think you get the point. It’s almost as if right wing conservative Republicans love hating the man. So it makes me wonder. How will they hate him now? How will the right turn this heroic act into something heinous? Will they say Hilary is ineffective as Secretary of State because her husband had to do her bidding? Or that President Obama used former President Clinton? Perhaps that President Clinton needed attention and to be in the limelight? I can hear it now. And I’ll be there to debate that point as a talking head on the t.v. talk shows. President William Jefferson Clinton might have his faults, he might have been impeached; but he held the position as leader of the free world for eight years. He was loved and highly respected, his words commanded attention and obviously they still do. President Clinton once said he admired former President Jimmy Carter’s work in a humanitarian capacity post presidency and he wanted to follow in his footsteps. I believe with this one gesture, this one magnificent victory, President Clinton has done that and more. As an American, I am proud of my former President. As a woman I am greatful. Thank you President Clinton, for reminding us of all the good you continue to do for our nation.